SLO County Median Home Price up Nearly 20% in December

SLO County Median Home Price up Nearly 20% in December

The San Luis Obispo County housing market ended 2013 with fewer homes sold in December than the previous year, but with median prices for those homes continuing to increase. In December, the total number of homes sold countywide — including new homes, resale single-family homes and condos — was 292, down 12.8 percent from the same month in 2012, according to DataQuick of San Diego.

Despite the decrease in sales, the overall median home price increased 19.4 percent to $465,500 in December — the highest median price for that month since 2007. It also marked the 20th consecutive month in which the median home sales price has increased year-over-year. The median is the midpoint where half of the houses sold for more and half for less; figures are compared year-over-year because of the seasonal nature of home sales.

The same year-over-year trend was reflected statewide. In December, sales fell by 12.1 percent to 34,949 total units sold, with the median home price increasing 22.1 percent to $365,000. In San Luis Obispo County, 78.4 percent of the homes sold in December were resale single-family homes. Those single-family home sales fell 17 percent year over year to 229. The median price of those resale single-family homes grew 18.4 percent to $467,500 — also hitting its highest point since December 2007.

DataQuick also tracks sales of condos and new homes, though data for those categories is subject to large swings because the sales numbers are so small. Condo sales decreased 6.3 percent year-over-year, with 30 units sold in December, but the median price rose 3.7 percent to $324,000.

Sales of new homes in December increased by 22.2 percent year-over-year, with 33 being sold, compared with 27 in the same month in 2012. The median price of a new home increased by 37.3 percent from the same month last year to $593,250.